Market Engagement - Small Format Roadside Advertising

Description

Network Rail (NR) is looking to procure a partner to manage, maintain and sell small format advertising on NR owned land adjacent to the railway and under railway bridges aimed at a roadside audience. The partner will be fully responsible for the provision of the advertising structure including installation and removal, maintenance and inspections and shall ensure the structure is in a safe, clean and tidy condition. The requirement is for static advertising but NR is open to exploring opportunities for other types of advertising. This supports the aims of NR to deliver vital revenue to be reinvested into the operational railway. This opportunity will generate sustainable income from the estate for investment in the rail infrastructure. NR wishes to engage with suppliers on this opportunity prior to going out to tender. Lot 1: The purpose of this notice is to engage with the supply base and request information relating to the existing solutions available in the market, specifically the market engagement will look to address the following areas: • Identify suitable suppliers available in the market; • Identify the functionality and capabilities of the suppliers available in the market; • Understand how the supplier will take our estate to market and the sales strategy they may use; • Preferred contractual model (e.g concession agreement / management agreement / other); • Identify any additional services or concepts that NR have not considered – this information may then be considered to support NR in developing its specification for the future tender; • Understand how suppliers work in a safe and sustainable manner; and • Understanding what commercial models currently used for this type of service and what does/doesn’t work well. NR is looking for a Supplier will be responsible for the full end-to-end service from: • new location identification; • provision of the structure (including funding the capex); • installation and removal; • sales and strategy; and • operation and maintenance of all roadside advertising assets. NR has a range of 500 to 700 active static panels, at any one time, for small format roadside advertising of which none are digital. The majority of the static panels across our estate are 4 sheet with a small number of other format types. NR is open to working with a supplier to increase the number of assets across its estate. The locations for this requirement will be national coverage across the NR regions. NR is seeking to understand the types of Suppliers that work in this market, their strategy for delivering a range of activities and how they would manage our current advertising estate The supplier will be responsible for: • Advertising, promoting and selling roadside advertising spaces; • Installing the assets and funding the capex; • Managing and maintaining all assets ensuring they are safe and available for sale; • Removing sites for the purpose of Network Rail Bridge inspections; and • Conducting all safety inspections The Customer is looking to tender this requirement in the near future. Any potential tender event in relation to this requirement will be issued via the NR procurement platform – BravoNR. Please note any discussions which do occur will cease immediately should a formal competition ultimately be announced. NR is committed to ensuring fairness, openness and transparency, and to following EU procurement regulations. The Periodic Indicative Notice is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market engagement via a request for information and does not constitute any commitment to undertake any procurement in the future. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to the PIN event and a response to this PIN does not guarantee any invitation to participate in this event or any future procurement. This PIN does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services, supplies or works mentioned in this PIN and NR will not accept any proposals offered in response to this PIN. NR is not liable for any costs, fees, or expenses incurred by any party in replying to or attending any PIN event. Any procurement of any services, supplies or works by the NR will be carried out strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016. NR will hold a market engagement session with suppliers individually via Microsoft Teams on 12th of July 2024 where suppliers will learn more about this opportunity. Please find details of how to register on the NR opportunity listing page in the RFI named 'Roadside small format advertising'. Additional information: Please note that any content received in response to this RFI will be used purely for information purposes only and will not be deemed as forming part of any proposed bid now, or any potential future tender.